The UK's successful AI trials, ASEAN's Digital Future, and unexpected digitization consequences in Pakistan
Edition #118 The KL declaration looks set to shape ASEAN's Digital Future, while the "Humphrey" rollout in the UK provides a useful test case for AI in government...
In our previous roundup, our focus was on the big story in the digital government world of Germany’s new digital ministry. We also looked at governing in the age of Artificial Intelligence, including reflecting on the UAE’s new law-writing AI.
This week, with a regional focus, we are thinking about developments in ASEAN. A shared declaration in ASEAN 2045 promises to set the tone for Southeast Asia’s digital future, and Indonesia is focusing on cross-border digital payments. Elsewhere, we look at the future of digital payments in Hong Kong, as well as the rollout of a new AI tool for civil servants.
Our main stories this week:
Hong Kong passes stablecoin bill as more governments recognize the digital asset
Malaysia: KL declaration to shape ASEAN’s Digital Future
UK government rolls out AI “Humphrey” tool to support civil servants
As a reminder, we have recently begun to expand our digital government coverage away from just Substack and onto Linkedin, Twitter and Instagram. For original content, audience engagement, and roundups of all our pieces, feel free to follow us over on those channels. Also check out our sister newsletter, interweave.africa.
Hong Kong passes stablecoin bill as more governments recognize the digital asset - Dylan Butts, CNBC
Hong Kong has become the latest jurisdiction to provide a regulatory regime for stablecoins, digital assets designed to peg to a real-world currency (usually USD).
Hong Kong joins major financial markets in Europe, Singapore, the UAE, and Japan in doing so; the US is widely expected to regulate stablecoins this summer.
Stablecoins have surged in popularity over the past 5 years to a $200bn+ market cap. Today, they oftentimes serve as a de facto- even if not de jure- offshore US dollar for cross-border remittances and local payments that largely bypass the existing banking system.
Under this legislation, stablecoin issuers will have to register with Hong Kong’s central bank and meet strict financial requirements.
Malaysia: KL declaration to shape ASEAN’s Digital Future - Alita Sharon, OpenGov Asia
ASEAN leaders have signed a Kuala Lumpur Declaration on "ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future", setting out a long-term vision for a resilient, innovative, and people-centered digital future for the region.
The declaration emphasizes advancing digital innovation, artificial intelligence, and sustainable economic growth while ensuring inclusion and narrowing development gaps.
It commits to building a secure, interconnected digital ecosystem and strengthening ASEAN’s institutional capacity to address regional and global challenges.
Leaders highlighted the need for careful governance of technological advances to prevent deepening inequality and to invest in the potential of all ASEAN citizens.
UK government rolls out AI “Humphrey” tool to support civil servants - Gov.UK
As the UK trials a variety of AI use cases through its new “Humphrey” suite for civil servants, there have been a wave of early wins.
“Consult”, a tool to speed up analysis of what the public and experts are telling the government, has shown almost identical results when compared to human policymakers.
The aim is to save officials 75,000 days of manual analysis every year - or £20m in staffing costs - creating a more agile and effective state focused on delivering a Plan for Change.
Elsewhere, local councils are trying another tool called “Minute”, used to take notes in meetings - saving on average 60 minutes of admin for each hour-long meeting.
Our Take: The UK’s innovation hub i.ai may be set to be a game-changer in digital government. Other countries are already looking to copy it, and these in-house use cases (coupled with the right sandbox environments) may revolutionize the ways that governments are using AI to reach eye-watering savings targets.
GovTech News in Brief
Seoul’s new AI flags, requests removal of sexually abusive content in 6 minutes - The Straits Times
The Seoul Metropolitan Government is set to launch a system that automatically monitors, detects, reports and requests the removal of sexually exploitative content within six minutes (vs. 3 hours without AI).
Greece launches Unified Digital ID system to modernize public services - ID Tech Wire
Greece has launched a new digital identification in the form of the Personal Citizen Number (PCN), assigned to every citizen and designed to simplify public sector transactions.
Our Take: Digital identity is a train that looks hard to stop at this point, with many nations across the world firmly on track to implement it. Even previous initiatives that had gone dormant have now been revived with new standards to encourage their adoption, such as Armenia’s plans for a new biometric identification system coming next year.
Bus stops here: Shanghai lets riders design their own routes - Chen Yiru, Sixth Tone
A new crowd-sourced transit platform is allowing riders to propose, and activate by voting, new bus lines in as little as three days.
Ukraine to monetize its superapp Diia and introduce AI assistant for government services - Si Ying Thian, GovInsider
Ukraine’s Diia has taken the world by storm in recent years. With plans to spin-off the product for a future IPO, and to integrate AI, we are poised for the next evolution of the app.
Germany’s new digital ministry - a new beginning or redistribution? - Detlef Klett and Maximilian Schumann, Taylor Wessing
Following the establishment of Germany’s new Digital Ministry, Taylor Wessing makes a series of recommendations about how to ensure it represents genuine change over a redistribution of power.
The Theory Behind the Practice
The unintended consequences of digitalizing bureaucracies - Shan Aman-Rana and Clement Minaudier, VoxNews
Contrary to our usual understanding of digitization, Aman-Rana and Minaudier explore how digitization of land records in Pakistan led to reduced state influence and reduced tax collection.
Why generative AI isn’t transforming government (yet) - Tiago C Peixoto, Tech Policy Press
Generative AI has yet to transform government - argues Peixoto - due to challenges like legacy IT systems, lack of digital skills, and unclear regulations. Targeted investments, regulatory clarity, and workforce upskilling could unlock its potential for public sector innovation.
From data to decisioning: how can the government build trust in AI? - Iain Brown, Think Digital
Iain Brown explores what transparency and trust means in the context of Agentic AI use in government, where the lack of a human in the loop can have disastrous consequences of RoboDebt proportions.
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